Participatory Digital Mapping in Mountain Communities

Experiences of Participation, Learning, and Barriers in Nepal's Himalayas

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21079289
AutoresRongkun Liu (0000-0002-5479-3304, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, autor de correspondencia), Sainan Li (0000-0002-1880-6294, Hubei Polytechnic University), Bingwei Tian (Hubei Polytechnic University)
Año2026
Volumen46
Número2
Fecha de publicación2026-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMountain Research and Development (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0276-4741 • E-ISSN: 1994-7151
EditorialInternational Mountain Society (IMS) and United Nations University (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1659/mrd.2024.00045
OpenAlexW7166673985
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas27

Mountain communities in Nepal's Himalayan region face growing pressures from hazards and large-scale infrastructure development, yet access to information for decision-making remains limited. This article takes Namase village as a case study to examine a locally adapted participatory digital mapping intervention. It examines villagers' participation and learning during the mapping process, as well as how the mapping tool and mapped outputs spread within the community. Observations of mapping sessions and interviews were used to analyze knowledge engagement and outcomes. Eight individual participants took part in the intervention and used the tool to visualize hazard exposure and discuss decisions on potentially affected farmland and settlements. The tool and mapping results were also disseminated to a small number of nonparticipants through villagers' personal connections. However, broader adoption was constrained by seasonal labor migration, gendered and generational digital divides, privacy concerns around land information, and technical limitations such as language and image resolution. Key lessons highlight the need to tailor digital tools to local contexts and to work through community leaders so that shared community challenges can be connected with individual interests and both can be addressed together. Overall, this single-location study suggests that participatory digital mapping can make modest, context-sensitive contributions to knowledge engagement and localized learning in resource-constrained mountain settings

Citizen journalism · Digital mapping · Face (sociological concept) · Intervention (counseling) · Key (lock) · Participatory action research · Participatory GIS · Work (physics) · Disaster Management and Resilience · Geographic Information Systems Studies · ICT in Developing Communities